Category Archives: General life affairs

Reality is I am not perfect, neither are you perfect…. no one is perfect.
The mind battle is not an easy war to fight in the slightest. Yet battles which take place in this mine field, are yet to be openly spoken about. Tactics to overcome being mentally overthrown are not shared or discussed. Many have taken to the grave wisdom on how to practically deal with matters of the mind, and the grave has also taken many, many of whom lacked support through their mind wars, and succumbed to the lies of the evil one, imbedded all over social media platforms. Lies which say you will never be good enough and you will never measure up. Worst of all lies which state ‘YOU ARE NOT WORTH LOVING’.

Are people blind and oblivious to the truth. The thoughts of the mind are the strongest contenders any human being will ever have to face, and stand up against in their lifetime. Why is this not written about in any of our history books, or taught in schools? Its about time we start addressing mind matters. The time to talk is NOW! The time to ACT is NOW!

And you know what I THANK GOD for the bible, for His word, FOR TRUTH. Which tells me that I can come to Him as I am, no need to change my outward appearance or personality cos He simply ADORES me. I rejoice in the fact that I am wonderfully made (note to self His words concerning me are FACT), fact: I am beautiful FULL-STOP. I boldly worship the king because I don’t have to exhaust myself trying to measure up to the worlds standards of perfection, KNOWING that I am made right through the blood of Jesus Christ. And ANY time I hear the words ‘I am not worth loving’, I remind satan that Jesus expressed I am worth dying for, when He hung on that cross! Thank God for victory, for my God is not dead, BUT resurrected and ALIVE. Therefore I too can have victory over EVERY mind battle.

Yes I may not be perfect,
BUT my suffering, hurts, and struggles are the ink in which I use to paint a perfectly beautiful story. A story of how love always prevails, and how hope never dies and how joy never runs out.

So don’t waste your suffering, use your life experiences both the good, and the ugly, to impart wisdom into another soul. For what the devil intended for evil, God turns around for good Genesis 50:20.

Apologies for the inactivity on Christian lady after Gods own heart, it ’twas a tough/emotional end to 2016 for me. My mind felt like it was literally being shipwrecked by a wave of differing emotions. But the Lord is good and I can say that I felt the Spirit uplift me during my church’s NYE service.

So anyways imma cut to the chase. ‘DO NOT FEAR’ (Isaiah 41:10). I can fully understand why God repeatedly tells us in the bible that we should not fear (over 300 times). I believe this is because fear is something which every human being faces at some point throughout their lifetime. I would like to encourage you to not allow the fear of failure, to prevent you from fulfilling that which you are potentially destined, to achieve in life. If something doesn’t work out, just learn to move on. The good thing is you now know, not to repeat that same mistake again. Every single mistake you make, brings you closer to your breakthrough. If it means you have to try 1000 times, keep holding your head high all the way through the 999 unsuccessful attempts, knowing that with each attempt you become a better you.

And finally, I would love to encourage you not to live in constant fear of Satan and his demons! You MUST know that Christ has already defeated Satan for you! God is all powerful and is NOT the opposite of Satan. No one can compare to God, as He is the creator of ALL things, He made everything out of nothing (ex nihilo)! Did you know that demons SHUDDER (shudder: Is to tremble/shake as a result of fear)???!! Check out James 2:19 demons fear God.

I hope this short piece encourages, and motivates you to be ALL God has called you to be! Don’t give up on your innate gifting, which is unique to you, and you alone.

God bless guys and happy new year.
Love you all, and thanks for showing your support by reading this message.

Its been a while (I do apologize, life has been BUSY), but I do hope you’ve all been doing well.
I’d also like to give a shout out to my new readers, welcome to ‘the christian lady after Gods own heart’ blog, may you find insight and wisdom from my posts, and just generally know that you are not alone, and the experiences which you face, others have also faced. Our challenges/experiences can make us become the best of who we are called to be. You are not weak, you ARE strong.

So enough of my babbling, today I’ll be sharing a message on the MIND. So what is the mind??? ‘The mind is the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel, and is the faculty of consciousness and thought’. Sometimes I feel that people can underestimate the importance of the mind, until something goes horribly wrong. Being mentally sick doesn’t happen overnight, it is a process. Your mental health is just as significant as your physical health. We have the responsibility to look after our mind. Mental health is simply put as, a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. So we all have mental health, its just that some of us have good mental health (a healthy state of mind), whilst others may struggle with being mentally ill. I believe that most of the decisions, and choices we make in life require us to use are head rather than our physical heart.
The reason I’m writing on the mind today, is because I never knew how much the bible emphasized on it until recently. Whilst doing research I found that the Hebrew word for mind is ‘Lebab’, which can be used interchangeably with the words heart, inner man, and will. So then I decided to replace the word heart, with the word mind whenever I read scripture. In doing so, I found that the bible on multiple occasions encourages us to protect our mind. Proverbs 4:23 for starters ‘Guard your Mind (heart) at all costs’. This led me to start thinking why? The mind is a place the devil LOVES to attack, and I guess its a perfect place for him to assault since our minds are constantly being bombarded with thousands of thoughts per day. One of the ways the devil likes to hurt us is by putting tempting thoughts into our minds. I’d just like to clarify that yes, some ungodly thoughts come from the evil desires within us (James 1:14), but also the devil can tempt us. Being tempted is NOT a sin, but giving into, and committing ungodly actions is when a sin is committed. I mean even Jesus was tempted (Matthew 4:1-11), yet He never sinned (1 Peter 2:22). So don’t feel condemned when an ungodly thought comes into your mind, just don’t act on it. Always remember that you can’t prevent birds from flying over your head, but you can surly prevent them from building a nest on top of you. Its the same with thoughts. Continuing with temptation, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He told them to pray that they should not be lead into temptation. And this is of great importance because from this passage, we can see that temptation is something we should pray about daily. Because in the same chapter Christ says we should pray that God should give them this day their daily bread. This shows me that praying over my mind and for it, is something which I should be doing DAILY (Matthew 6:9-13).

My second point with regards to the importance of protecting the mind, is that when the bible speaks of putting on the FULL Armour of God, the mind is not left uncovered. We have the helmet of salvation come into play (Ephesians 6:17), which is the word of God. It is so important to know the truth, to clothe and soak your mind in the truth. And this truth is the word of God, and in that word you find the key to protecting your mind. It is your defense against the lies of Satan. So if the devil comes at you with ‘you are a failure’, you tell him ‘In Christ I’m more than conquerors’ . You must learn to get into the habit of silencing the enemy.

The final point which I have for you today, revolves around the bible verse which states, that David was a man after Gods own heart (Acts 13:22). I decided to view Acts 13:22 from a different angle, to how I’d previously been looking at it. I then asked myself the question ‘What does it mean to be an individual after Gods own mind’??? I looked into the life of David, and I could not help but notice, that a lot of the time he would consult God before he made a decision. Even though he was an experienced man of war, and had fought many battles, he would still seek God, to see if he should go to war or not (1 Samuel 30:8). So a way in which we can pursue to be individuals who want to understand God more, is by involving Him in every sphere of our lives. David also understood the necessity of holding onto Gods word, in his mind (heart). In the book of Psalms we see that David says that he will meditate upon Gods word, day and night. For example Psalm 119: 9 reads ‘How can a young man stay pure, by meditating on Gods word’ . So another way in which we can pursue Gods mind, and understand Him more, is by reading the bible. After all the bible is Gods own words (2 Peter 1:20-21) . I believe that the bible is Gods way of communicating His thoughts to us.

So I’d like to leave you with this, your mind is just as important as your physical health, and when your mind is sick it can affect your physical body. But you MUST remember, you have been given the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)! Don’t let the devil bring you down. You are NOT unworthy, you are not unholy, for Christ makes all things new (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are forgiven, you are loved.

Well I thought that I would write up a quick piece on the things which I enjoy doing as a young single woman. Firstly I’d just like to emphasise that I know, there’s soooo much work we can do for the kingdom of Christ as unmarried folk. But I also believe that marriage should not altogether stop us from doing God’s work. So whether married or not, there will always be work for you to do for the kingdom of God, until our Saviour returns. For the bible says ‘look around, for the fields are ripe for harvest’ (John 4:35). With that said I would like to express that I intend to take a non-spiritual approach, in explaining to you the joys which I find in being ‘single’. Possibly in the near future I’ll write up some of the joys I have with being ‘single’, in relation to working for Gods kingdom.

So my list goes as follows

1) I get to spend a lot of time with my sisters, and I will truly miss all the fun we have together. The slumber parties we throw in each other’s rooms, the snacks we share together at night in our beds, the jokes we have, laughing together and at each other, playing silly games, playing MONOPOLY for hourssss. This is something I will surely miss, and I know I will not be able to do as often when I become a married woman, by the grace of God.

3) Watching TV series with my dad after work, and family movie nights on the weekend. So fun man.

4) Catching jokes with my mum, usually laughing at how she can come out with saying the most funniest sentences.

5) I enjoy having that sense of peace, which comes from having parents that know when I am upset, before I even tell them. I love to hear their sound, and encouraging advice.

6) Ordering food home on the occasional weekend, or late night, when we are all too tired to cook. That’s when I truly appreciate the chicken n chip shop. I love me a good tasty chicken burger. And I love me some CHINESE food too.

7) Going on a random family drive, with my parents and sisters.

8) Going to my family’s favourite food restaurant on a special occasion.

9) I enjoy having family prayer time, in the car, or in our living room.

So there you have it, my list on what I feel are the perks of being ‘single’. My list may seem insignificant to you, but as they say ‘it’s the little things that make life big’. I prefer to say ‘it’s the little things in life, which make a big difference’ lol. My word of advice for us ‘singletons’ out there who desire to be married is, ENJOY this season. Mainly because you can never, EVER, get back the time you lose. The past belongs to the past, so be grateful, and appreciative of the time which God has blessed you with now. Use this time to build up great and godly memories, and confidently wait upon the Lord (Micah 7:7). For God in His sovereignty will bless you with your hearts desires (Psalm 37:4), according to the will He has for your life.

I don’t know you yet, but the first thing I want you to know about me is, I’m in LOVE WITH JESUS.

I know without a shadow of a doubt that, no person or thing can take His place in my life.

But honey there’s still room for me to love on you, love on you like how Christ has called me to love you.

I hope my loyalty to Christ shows you that I will surely be loyal to you.

I wouldn’t dare break your heart, because breaking your heart would be like breaking Christ’s.

I hope you understand that one of the ways in which I intend to express my love for Christ, will be through loving you persistently, in both the good and the not so good seasons. Because the more I fellowship with Christ, and desire to know Him more intimately, the better the wife I will be for you. Because I know that He will give me all the strength, the passion, and the abilities which I need to be able to care, love, and provide for you wholeheartedly.

I don’t know what you look like, but I know I’ll love your looks, because I know that when God created you, He specifically thought about me. And I know I will have the great privilege of being able to look at a being made in the likeness of my heavenly Father, on a regular basis. I know you resemble my heavenly Father, and I cannot wait to see you eye to eye. But for now I will continue to uplift us in prayer until we meet, face to face. Yes that’s right, I won’t just pray for you, otherwise that would be so selfish of me. But my prayers are also that God moulds me into the women, YOU my husband need me to be.

Honey just remember whenever you are feeling alone or deserted, that God is with you, and he will never leave you nor forsake you.

And whenever you have to make a difficult decision, remember to always be attentive to the Spirit of God, for the bible says that you should acknowledge Him in ALL your ways, and He will direct your path. The book of Isaiah also says ‘your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left’. Plus honey I want you to know that even if those around you don’t support you in your decision, the decision you made with inspiration from the Holy Spirit. I do, I support you and I will continue to pray for you, and cheer you on.

If ever you feel weak, just know that God will make you strong.

Baby even if you fall, just know that you will always get back up again, for God says the righteous man falls 7 times but gets back up.

Whenever you feel like giving up, just remember that you can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens you.

And baby I just want you to feel encouraged, if ever you feel lonely, or tired of still being single, or tired of seeing your friends getting into relationships, and being married, whilst you have no mate. Do not become bitter with God, but rather LOOK TO GOD. Take time out for just you and Him, so you can draw strength from his life-giving water. The bible also says none shall lack her mate, remember that. I pray that thoughts of lust will not overwhelm you, I pray that you will not have to depend on lustful thoughts or fantasises to keep you going through your season of singleness. I say this because Lord knows I struggle with this issue myself, but I’ve found strength from Gods word, and seeking Gods face.

Honey one thing I do ask of you, is that you pray for me, for your prayers are the best gifts you can ever give me. Your prayers are something which I will ALWAYS need.

Lord I pray that you continue to guide and protect my husband. I also pray that you make me the wife you have called me to be, exclusively for my husband. God help me to be even gentler, help me to be an individual who is slow to anger, Lord control my speech, and tame my tongue. Help me to be a godly wife, and also a godly mother. Help me to raise my children in a way which pleases you greatly. Help me to love my husband in a way which pleases you greatly.

And finely my dear husband I love you, but God loves you more. I can never do what Christ has already done for you, or will do for you. I cannot complete you because Christ already makes you complete, neither can I replace the position which Christ has in your life. But I sure will, be able to share in the great moments in which God blesses us with as a married union.

Have you ever experienced a time in your life where you are in the process of waking up, and you feel a strong presence in the room. You try to scream or shout for help, yet this simple ability you have to speak suddenly disappears, and becomes a mammoth of a task. You try to use the muscles in your body to help you turn over, to help you speak, but you simply can’t do anything. I’d just like to tell you, do not fret, for you are not alone. Personally it is one of the scariest things I have ever experienced in my life, and it’s happened to me MORE THAN ONCE.

I give thanks to God that I have not experienced sleep paralysis again in the last few years, because it is not something enjoyable to encounter. When I faced my episodes of what they call ‘sleep paralysis’, I always felt a very dark presence in the room, automatically I’d always want to shout out the name of Jesus, but could only repeatedly say so in my mind. There has been times where I felt like I was being strangled or raped, even though I’ve never faced or been through such circumstances in my life. While I hadn’t encountered such violence in real life, I felt within me that what I faced in my mind, is what it would be like in actuality. At times I felt like I physically had to fight someone off me, like I was fighting for my life. From this I immediately knew I was under spiritual attack from the devil. As a Christian I firmly believe that there are angels and also demons, as this is exactly what the holy bible tells us. Matthew 25:41 ‘Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels’. With that said, I shall go on to discuss why I believe this topic is so important to talk about.

The main reason in which I want to share my experience with you all, is so that anyone going through the same experiences which I previously faced, doesn’t feel condemned. It is so easy for us to start thinking ‘what have I done wrong’, or ‘what am I doing wrong’. Yes sometimes through certain actions we take, we can provide the enemy with access into our life, but this is not ALWAYS THE CASE. One can also start to think and believe that they are a ‘WEAK’ Christian. You may even think that your prayers are ineffective, and that you do not deserve Gods protection. You begin to feel like you are not worthy enough to come before Gods presence, so you give up on prayer altogether, and think wants the point. This is exactly what the devil wants, he wants to rob you of your confidence of coming before Gods throne of grace. This is the very path which I found myself along, I didn’t even think I had the right to talk within the church, because these attacks kept on happening to me. I felt that in order for me to share my faith and the gospel, my life had to be in perfect order, and free from spiritual attacks. Which is a dangerous and false belief, I mean Paul wrote most of the New Testament from a prison cell (Philippians 1:12-14). He faced a lot of persecution, yet God still used him. You facing a difficult trial does not mean that you cannot be used for God’s glory. I always like to remind myself that even though Satan intends to harm me, God intends it all for good (Genesis 50:20). I also choose to remember ‘when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). These scriptures are of constant encouragement to me!

I really don’t want you to feel condemned, or suffer silently. I believe the Lord uses such situations to strengthen our character, it also helps us to develop patience endurance (Romans 5:3-4). What we must realise is that when we face trials, and go through challenging life situations there is ALWAYS hope. I just desire for all who face such situations to feel encouraged. The devil likes to instil fear within us, but we should be strong and courageous. The very thing you are afraid of (Satan and his demons), God has given you complete and total authority over (Luke 10:19). So do not let this circumstance make you fearful, do not be afraid of the devil, begin to exercise your authority over him. You must begin to use the name of the Jesus, for demons are subject to the name of Christ (Luke 10:17).

My penultimate note of encouragement to you people today is… There is GREATNESS in you. The devil knows this truth, better than your own self. He knows that you can accomplish great and mighty things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you, and that is why he will try everything in his power to stop you from believing the truth. He will throw every obstacle he can in your way, to get you to give up. One thing I’ve noticed is that whenever I experienced such spiritual attacks (what they call sleep paralysis), it would always be at a point in time where I was drawing closer to God. Or when God was using me to minister the gospel to others. I believe as Christians that we must be smart at identifying Satan’s tactics, and not let them get the better of us. I always like to look back to the story of Jesus birth, to gain strength concerning the matter of spiritual attack. Satan knew that Jesus Christ was God, and that the baby born in Bethlehem was the King of kings. So he used King Herod to carry out his work to kill all the young boys, with the hope of killing Jesus Christ the Messiah. So you can see that Satan knew that Jesus was GREAT, so he tried everything in his power to try to stop Jesus from fulfilling His potential. And as a result Jesus parents had to flee to Egypt. From this I’ve observed that, the trials we face in life may lead us to unexpected destinations, but this does not make us failures. We should also never allow trials to lead us to giving up, or prevent us from fulfilling our full potential. Christ faced many challenges in life, yet He still fulfilled His purpose, He still chose to lay down His life for you and me. His death on the cross and His resurrection, was Him accomplishing His calling. And through His great act of selflessness all mankind has the opportunity to receive the free gift of salvation.

Finally, I believe that God is using my very fear to help me encourage others. I remember when watching Nollywood as a child, I would not be able to sleep at night, because of all the witchcraft they showed in like every scene of the movie. If you grew up in a Nigerian household, you probably understand where I am coming from lol. I used to have sleepless nights after talking about evil spirits, and could not even read Christian books which discussed such matters. But now I am a transformed individual, the very demons I was afraid of, I now know I have the authority over them, authority given to me by Christ Jesus, Amen (Revelations 2:26-28). I am now unafraid to wage war against the kingdom of darkness through prayer and fasting, praise be to God.

So people stay blessed, and stay encouraged. Remember you are not the only one who is going through such battles (spiritual attacks), do not keep it to yourself. Always find a Christian brother or sister to share with and confide in, as their prayers and words of encouragement, will be of great help. The bibles says the prayer of a righteous person has great power. And most importantly cast your worries onto God, for you were not designed to carry them yourself. I want you to realise that sharing your struggles with others is so important, especially with God. My greatest advice for you today is NOT TO BOTTLE THINGS UP.

Have a blessed week influential people and may God’s grace be with you

A big hello to all the ladies reading this post, I hope y’all are well (and also to my male folks who just happen to be passing by).

First and foremost I’d just like to say a big thank you, to all who have shown support to this blog. Whether it be by liking a post or sharing posts with friends and family, your love is much appreciated! It’s also another great way in which we can help spread the word of God to the masses.

Now onto the MAJOR issue I’d like to discuss today, following on from the sentence ‘spreading the word of God to the masses’, how have you done so today? This week? This month? I do not ask this question to you today, with the intention to make you feel condemned, as that is NOT my motive at all! My motive today, is to highlight that there is someone hard at work with his several agents, trying by all means to spread a message. And guess what, his message is certainly being spread, seen, and heard by a multitude of people. His message is pure evil and his intentions are also evil. This individual and his followers intend to prevent people from receiving the message of truth! I’m sure you have guessed the person/people I am talking about by now, but if not don’t fret as imma tell you who they are anyway…SATAN and his demons! It makes me SOOOO angry to see the devil go around destroying people lives, and robbing them of the opportunity of knowing God and Gods word. As a soldier of Christ I desire what God desires, which is for none to perish but for all to have eternal life (2 Peter 3:9)!

I personally feel that the devil is really infiltrating the media, from billboards to adverts and cartoons, it seems almost impossible to avoid material of sexual content. He really has a stronghold over the media industry, and I believe it is something we should seriously pray about! My desire is for God’s word to infiltrate the minds of people across the world, and for Christians to have prominent positions within the media industry.

I believe the devil is using social media to attack churches. There is a lot of verbal persecution geared towards the church in this day and age. I also find the media to be very one sided, mainly highlight churches faults and sins! I hardly see the media videoing the good deeds/charity work carried out by church folk. Media highlights preachers faults. But one thing we must remember is that God forgives AND forgets sin (Hebrews 8:12). And we know this is true because God says love does not keep a record of wrong (1 Corinthians 13:5). And we know that GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:8). As Christians sometimes we end up making things worse for the body of Christ, by our speech and actions. By us continuously replaying another person’s sin, we are actually not doing ourselves any favours. Usually constantly speaking of someone else’s faults, leads us to gossiping. We can also prevent others from coming into Gods house, because we leave them feeling fearful. They feel like if they slip up, that’s it, the whole church will know about their mistakes, and they’ll be verbally attacked (having multiple bullets of condemnation fired their way). Anyway who are we to hold unforgiveness when Christ has already forgiven (assuming they’ve confessed their sin)! Also we are to look to Christ, not to our pastor or another Christian brother or sisters. We are not to put man (this also includes women) on a pedestal as only Christ is perfect! Taking that point into consideration it should not surprise us when others make mistakes, because all have sinned and come short of Gods glory (Romans 3:23). That’s the whole point of why Jesus came, because no one is without sin (1 John 1:8 and Ecclesiastes 7:20). Also the bible says a righteous man falls 7 times but gets back up (Proverbs 24:16). I do not say this with the intention of saying it is ok to sin, or live in habitual sin, I’m just trying to give those reading a clear and balanced illustration of the point I am trying to make. We must also understand that praying for a brother/sister/leader in Christ will do more good, than chit chat. To be quite frank chit chat accomplishes NOTHING, and pulls you away from God, as you indulge yourself in the sin of gossiping (Proverbs 10:19, Proverbs 18:7-8 and Leviticus 19:16). Also remember we are called to rebuke in love, so if you are in a position where someone is accountable to you, correct them in gentleness so they will not be discouraged (Galatians 1:6).

The second issue I have identified with regards to the negative attributes of social media, is that the devil uses it as a tool to dictate to people how they should live. I feel that girls in particular are a specific target for the enemy, in this area. We are very much in the firing line of the enemy concerning sexuality and how we should look/dress. Unfortunately society has brainwashed people into thinking that girls have to walk around practically naked, with a lot of makeup on, in order to be perceived as beautiful. This is not to say that men do not go through their own social media battles. What I have recently observed is that guys are pressurised into thinking, they are not ‘manly’ enough if they don’t have a banging body. They got to have those abs and guns otherwise they are not winning. They must have several women falling at their feet. Males I want you to understand that the size of your muscles, does not determine whether you are a man or not. As Andy says ‘You could be a boy until the die you lay in your grave’. Both sexes are also encouraged to jump in bed with everyone and anyone, because life is all about satisfying your own needs and desires. It doesn’t really matter about hurting someone else. The thing is the bible warns us against living to satisfy our sinful nature (Galatians 6:8). Another trending theme I’ve taken notice of is relationships. The media expresses that, if you’re not in a relationship, or have never been in one, you are simply not a human being. Sounds stupid or harsh when you hear it put in such a way, but that’s just me not beating around the bush, and uncovering the nasty reality of how vile social media can be sometimes.

The beauty feature that has everyone hyped up in our present day, is having a big bum. Society’s perception of beauty has left many women in debt/bankruptcy, due to them having plastic surgery which they can barely afford. Damage to women is not only financial, but also psychological and emotional. Many women and young girls sadly feel that they are not beautiful, or good enough, when lined up against society’s standards and expectations. I would just like to end this paragraph by saying I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with wearing makeup. I just feel issues arise when people feel uncomfortable within themselves, and are solely dependent on makeup/artificial beauty. To the extent where they feel they cannot be seen without makeup, and wouldn’t dream of leaving their house without it on. We must learn to LOVE ourselves, we must learn to love and except that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). I would also like to clarify that there is nothing wrong with having a big or flat bottom, or a large or small chest, praise God for making you the way He desired you to be created and formed. Rejoice in your beauty. There will never be another you!

My third and final observation on the tactics the enemy uses, through social media is bulling. Several people have been bullied via the media. Many people have had an embarrassing moment recorded or pictured, which has gone viral, and has received many horrible and sarcastic comments. This leaves people feeling extremely hurt and can leave people being fearful of going out in public. I must admit that I am also guilty of laughing at someone’s embarrassing moment, which is not a kind or respectful thing for me to do to a fellow human being. It is so great to hear about bullying awareness schemes, but I still feel that some people are unaware of what bullying is. Verbal bullying is a serious problem, as the effects of verbal bullying are not always physical. Many people do not see a crushed spirit or broken heart, especially those hidden behind a smile. Unfortunately social media has paved the way for keyboard warriors to attack and bully who they want, when they want. Name calling or using any form of abusive language over a social media medium i.e. twitter or Facebook IS BULLYING, full stop. Sadly bullying drives some people to the point of despair, where they feel the only way out is to commit suicide. And we know that this is exactly what the devil wants, as he goes about like a roaring lion looking for people to kill, steal from and destroy (1 Peter 5:8 and Romans 10:10). I really want us to understand that bullying is a SERIOUS matter, and that we all can do something to bring a stop to its prevalence within the media. It does not matter if the part we have to play in ending bullying is small or big, what is important is that we actually do something.
I don’t believe that media (social media) is evil, but I believe that Satan is using it for evil (Acts 13:10)! But Gods word says that He turns around evil for good (Genesis 50:20)! You hear that Satan it’s already game over for you! Not all of us fall into Satan’s traps of deception so easily, but there are many people out there who do. So it’s our duty as Christ soldiers to warn others about the enemies’ plans, and to minister to the unsaved. We can all help infiltrate the media with the gospel message, by playing our own part! I decided to devise a short list of ways in which I thought can help us all spread the gospel message via the media. The ways in which we can help spread the gospel are as follows…

1) Post a word of encouragement on Twitter/Facebook.
2) Post images inspired by Gods word and share with family and friends on Instagram.
3) Send encouraging Whatsapp messages.
4) Record/picture the good work which God is doing in your life/church (Do so as the Spirit leads). Never feel forced to share all personal details of your life, as we all like to keep certain things private. I’m aware we all like to keep some matters CONFIDENTIAL (and frankly I don’t blame you, due to the sad fact that some people abuse they way they use the internet)!
5) Pray over the media.
6) Fast regarding media issues.

7) Speak out against bullying, and do not help spread hurtful videos or pictures of people.

8) Christian artists need financial support in order to help promote their work and reach many more people. (This is something I felt God personally ministering to me about). I feel lead to financial support Christian artist by either purchasing their album, OR by donating to their ministry. Just imagine if every Christian in the world donated a penny towards Christian media ministries, it would go such a long way. I’m sure you’ve heard the statement ‘every little helps’, and truly it does. There are 7.3 billion people in the world, just imagine collecting 1p from every person, you’d end up with A LOT I’ll leave you to do the math! But no one should feel forced to give, or give what they do not have. We should give cheerfully as the bible says (2 Corinthians 9:7).

I am sure many of you will have several more ideas to add to the list, on how we can help spread the gospel, so please feel free to share them with me. But I earnestly hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post, and will join me in fighting against the kingdom of darkness operations within the media. Starting from NOW, let’s not allow the devil to keep causing havoc. Let’s start spreading Gods word NOW!!! Let us start the trend PROMOTING GOD’S WORD (PGW)

I thought that I would do a short write up, on something which has been playing on my mind. I believe that this post will be of particular benefit to females who come into contact with children on a regular basis. For example individuals such as mothers, Sunday school teachers, child minders, older siblings etc. I say this because I believe that women, especially mothers, have a big influence over their child’s/children’s lives. I have no intention of creating this post to be a scare tactic, but rather to warn individuals to be mindful of what the young ones within their care are watching.

You may be wondering why I feel that females have such a big influence over children’s lives, so I’d like us to look to the word of God concerning this matter (this does not mean that a man does not have a vital role to play in a child’s life. I firmly believe that both parents have equally crucial roles to play, when raising a child). So we all know Proverbs 31 as a scripture relating to how a godly wife should carry herself and what her character should look like, but have you ever took the time to read and meditate on the former part of chapter 31? Here we see King Lemuel reciting words of wisdom, which were told to him by his mother. Proverbs 31:1 says ‘The sayings of King Lemuel, an inspired utterance his mother taught him’. So we can see his mothers wise words inspired him, and also stuck with him throughout his life. They were principles which he could use to live a life full of purpose and obedience towards God. We also see that his mother’s words of wisdom had a part to play in the way he treated others. We must remember that the way we bring up our children does not only affect us, our children can either be a source of blessing or pain to those around them, e.g. people in their local community. An example of this is Proverbs 31:4-5“It is not for kings, O Lemuel– not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights”. From this scripture I gather that because of Lemuel’s mother’s words of advice, Lemuel would have been a king who ruled his people fairly, and would not deny the innocent justice. Overall I’d say that Proverbs 31 shows us that being a virtuous woman also includes being a wise mother, who has the ability to influence her child in a godly manner.

We also have the history of the kings of Israel and Judah, which show us that a mother/grandmother can either have a positive or negative influence on her child’s life. 2 Chronicles 15:16 depicts the events of King Asa deposing his own grandmother Maacah, because she made a repulsive image (idol), in order for people to worship. Maacah setting up an Asherah pole could have lead the children of Israel to once again turn from God by committing idol worship, which would break Gods heart. But we see that King Asa did not let his grandmother’s sin, influence the way in which he ruled his people, or his obedience towards Gods word.

Now I believe some of us know of a woman called Bathsheba, but I shall just give you a brief synopsis about who she is. She was the woman whom King David committed adultery with, and later became the mother of a man we know as King Solomon. 1 Kings 2:19 states ‘When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the King stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand’. Now throughout the bible there is a great significance placed on sitting on the right hand of someone important. I’m sure many of us have come across several verses which speak of sitting at Gods right hand. Sitting at the right hand of someone important, is to sit in a position of honour, authority, and rulership. I personally believe that for King Solomon to put his mother in such a position, he would have had to have great trust in her, and her wisdom. Bathsheba would have had the ability to influence her son Solomon greatly. She would have probably been one of the people who constantly give King Solomon counsel. And we all know King Solomon was the wisest King to ever live 1 Kings 4:29-32, and I believe that his mother’s character would have had some part to play, in his development of good character. This is apart from God greatly blessing King Solomon, as God is the one who gives wisdom. Now there are many more examples of a mothers/grandmothers influence over her offspring’s life in the bible, for example Queen Athaliah, but I don’t want to waffle on. I would like to try and keep this post as short as possible *hands over face*, so I don’t overload your brains with too much information. So I may look into creating a follow up post on a mothers influence, God willing.

So now I shall go onto the whole reason I wrote this post… CARTOONS!!! So one day I flicked through some kiddies TV channels as I usually do, and ended up utterly shocked, and surprised at several demons coming out of a possessed cartoon character. But NO it didn’t stop there, this scene was shortly followed by another scene portraying another character being taken over by a demon, and the demon manifesting itself within the character by changing the characters voice. ALARM BELLS started ringing in my head, this is not at all healthy for a child (or adult) to watch, as such things do not bring glory to God. Reason being because such programmes depict witchcraft and black magic, as something fun and exciting. They paint it out to be like an adventure which kids should desire to discover and experience. They are practically glorifying witchcraft. The really sad and unfortunate thing is that there are many cartoon/children’s TV series which glorify witchcraft, and the bible firmly warns us against dabbling/involving ourselves in witchcraft. Leviticus 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them, I am the Lord your God”.

I will now go through a few of the many reasons of why I believe as mothers, sisters, aunties and teachers, we should keep an eye out on what our children are watching.

Things to watch out for when watching cartoons.

Sexual innuendos.

The mocking of Christ Jesus.

Distortion of Gods handiwork for example the misrepresentation of human beings i.e. ape like humans.

Witchcraft/Black magic etc etc etc.

Why we should watch out for such things?

Scary images such as cartoons which illustrate a lot of gore, and images of monsters, and aliens can instil fear within children.

The enemy can use the TV to open a door within our children’s lives, e.g. if a child is being constantly exposed to things of a sexual nature, the door of lust can be open. What we allow our eyes to be entertained with can have a big impact on our life. Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness”.

If a child is persistently bombarded with subtle or explicit images of witchcraft, they can easily come to the conclusion that witchcraft/black magic is ok or normal.

And one of my biggest concerns is that children IMMITATE, this is how they learn! So if all they see on TV are actions which do not bring God glory, there is a strong tendency that they will act in ways which do not bring God glory.

Sorry for the rant but I believe it was necessary to share, even if it benefits one family, I know and believe it is worth sharing. I know that in this day and age it has become increasingly hard to monitor what young children are exposed to, as there is evil everywhere, but we have a powerful weapon. PRAYER. Also never feel ashamed to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance on how to raise your children in a godly way.

Without realising I shut You out of the warmness of my heart
Unaware of the fact that I now left you in a position where you stood knocking.
Knocking outside in the cold, in order to gain access into your own property
For my heart is Yours, it is Your very own possession.

I gradually became so distant from You my dear admirer
I all too quickly forgot that You far exceed my previous and current admirers.
They could never measure up to You.
Their love letters were NOTHING in comparison to the love BOOK You blessed me with.
Yes whilst they were busy struggling to draft love sentences,
some of which were not sincere

You already had a love story prepared for me.
And that book is the foundation of my life
It is a book of purity and authenticity, there is none like it.

But I chose to prostitute myself without an ounce of shame
I committed this un-dignifying act right in Your presence.
I cheated on You. I shared out parts of me that I promised were for You
MY TIME, MY ENERGY, MY EFFORT.

I became so quarrelsome, I was demanding, I made claims that it was Your right to give me all that my flesh desired.

I said “I must have him, because I want him”.
Indirectly but yet very clearly stating “You my admirer are simply not enough for me”.

But Your quiet gentle voice never ceased to echo deep within my heart.
The words “But I am enough for you”, always made my heart flutter.

Then I’d start guilt tripping again, because I’d realise how much I’d hurt You
But then I’d be back to my fleshly antics again.
I would hang onto fantasies and fairytales to quench my so called loneliness.
The hope of developing relationships with those I’d admired, very quickly turned into false hope.

This left me bruised and battered. It crushed my spirit. I was left feeling like a useless worn out punching bag.

All my efforts of trying to gain their attention seemed to be to no avail.
Making the effort to smile at them, and to purposely pass their way, seemed to be of no significance to them.

They never paid me much attention.
But little did I realise that the feelings of disappointments I had, were the exact feelings You had.

This is because I did to You, the exact thing I hated people doing to me… completely ignoring my existence.

I ignored you

I ignored your attention

I did to you, what I despised others doing to me.

But the thing which upset You most, was seeing me harm myself by not guarding my heart.
Seeing me hurt
Hurt You.

You wanted my attention But I was always too busy trying to gain someone else’s attention
I desired a man that could pick me up, and carry me in his strong arms, forgetting that You always lift me up when I fall down.
I wanted to be guaranteed the promise that my dream man would always remain faithful to me.

But You already had a better deal in store for me, the promise that You’d never leave me or forsake me.

Your promise of always remaining faithful, even when I’m unfaithful, never ceases to fail.

I wanted someone who was willing to die for me, to take my place so I could live, all because they loved me so much.

But You’ve already done that.

So my Lover and Admirer I want You to know that I am Yours, my heart belongs to You.

From the moment I invited You into my heart, You gained total and complete ownership over my body.

Sometimes I occasional throw myself a pity party over being single, but the fairytale/Disney dreams will always fade away, but my thoughts of You will always be constant.

They are thoughts that will never grow faint, but will be existent within my psyche as long as I live.

So Jesus my Lover and Admirer I want You to know that I LOVE YOU.

My whole being cannot express how much I love You, but I shall always remember that the love I have for You, is nothing in comparison to how much You love me.

Xxx

Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

4) Because people I know, know him (mutual friends), so they can tell me ALL I need to know about him.

4) God is the only one who truly knows a man’s heart. He sees what we cannot see, and knows what we do not know.

The Lord knows ALL hearts (Acts 1:24).

God does not look at outward appearance, but rather He looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

5) He’s smart

5) God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He created the human mind, and gives man wisdom to create medicines, to paint to draw etc. Therefore God is the smartest person I know.

How Great is Gods wisdom and knowledge (Romans 11:33).

Christ is actually wisdom itself. Now that is just amazing and unbeatable (1 Corinthians 1:30).

God is actually the source of all wisdom, He is the One who gives wisdom to man (James 1:5).

6) He has a great Job (therefore he’d be a great provider).

6) God supplies ALL our needs (Philippians 4:19).

God sustains our souls, He is the one who keeps us going, by supplying us with all we need (Psalm 54:4). If God can provide for the birds in the air, how much more for us His children [humans made in His image] (Luke 12:24). We should not be anxious about our needs, because God already knows them all, and will make a way for providing them for you!!! (Matthew 6:31-32).

.

Sometimes I feel that us being human find it all too easy to come to God with a list of why we want to be a relationship with a particular individual, or why we think God should bring a certain fella our way. Even though our points may be valid we must stop and think ONE are these characteristics, the same characteristic which God has instilled within the life of the mate He has already prepared for me (basically is my will in line with the will of God for my life?).

And TWO which I find to be most important is we should never believe that these characteristics can take the place of our sovereign Lords nature within our lives. They should never been seen as a substitute for God’s love, or used as a remedy to heal empty voids within our lives. We must realise that NO ONE or NO THING can take the place which God has in our lives. That place is designed for God and only for God, so until you realise this, you won’t feel complete wholeness. It is also extremely unfair to put all that pressure on a guy, as they can never be like God or live up to our unrealistic standards (well some of our standards). And I’ll even go as far as saying it is somewhat selfish (even though we may be a selfless individual, we can easily fail in this particular area).

But to sum things up, the main point I am trying to bring across is that we already have the greatest love of all, and we are already in the greatest relationship we can ever be in. And that’s being in a relationship with Jesus Christ, it is INCOMPARABLE to any other.